Valentine’s Day Bento Box!

Little Passports blog ambassador Wendy Copley is one creative mom! Even with two boys, she finds time to cook, write, and craft, and the artistic juices don’t stop there. Every day, she packs creative and healthy lunches for her sons with themes ranging from holidays to cute critters. Wendy has created a Valentine’s Day spread just for Little Passports! Read on to learn more.

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner but there’s plenty of time to plan a special lunch for the kids you love most. Add lots of hearts and plenty of naturally red foods to make an adorable meal that will tell them that they are your favorite Valentine.

Ingredients:
Havarti cheese
Salami
Grape tomatoes
Crackers (heart-shaped if you can find them)
Red bell pepper
Blood orange
Raspberry yogurt

Equipment:
Divided lunch box — I’m using an EasyLunchboxes box here
Decorative paper napkin (optional)
Small heart cookie cutter
Medium heart cookie cutter
Bamboo skewer
Valentine sprinkles
Paring knife

Here’s how to make this lunch:
Cut four slices of Havarti cheese about the same size as the small heart cookie cutter. You’ll want them to be fairly thick — between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick — otherwise, they’ll crack when you thread them on the skewer. Use the cutter to make four heart shapes.

Trim two skewers so they’ll fit in the larger section of the lunch box. Gather some grape tomatoes, sliced salami and the cheese hearts you just cut.

String the meat, veggies and cheese onto the skewers in this order: tomato, salami, cheese, salami, cheese, salami, tomato.

Place a decorative napkin at the bottom of the largest section of the lunch box. If you don’t use a napkin, the lunch will be fine, but it adds an extra splash of color to the lunch and it helps keep the food from moving around a bit too. Put the skewers on top of the napkin.

Next, cut a wide slice off the side of a red bell pepper, then cut a few heart shapes with the small cutter. If you are having a hard time getting the cutter through the skin of the pepper, remove it with a vegetable peeler.

Cut some thin slices of the Havarti cheese, then cut more heart shapes with the medium cutter.

Layer a slice of cheese and a red pepper on each cracker and place them in the box next to the skewers.

Slice the blood orange into wedges. If you are unfamiliar with blood oranges, they taste similar to naval oranges, though they are often a little less sweet. They are primarily grown in Italy, California and Texas, and their flesh is an unusual dark red color.

Add the orange slices to one of the remaining smaller compartments in the lunch box. Spoon the yogurt into the other compartment.

Add sprinkles to the top of the yogurt for one last bit of Valentine’s flair!

About Wendy Copley:

After receiving her first bento box as a Christmas gift, Wendy’s love of crafting unique and eye-catching lunches took off. Ever since, she has perfected her style and continues to make tasty bento boxes every day. This March, she released her book,  Everyday Bento: 50 Cute and Yummy Lunches to Go which is full of tutorials on how to make your own creative lunches at home! Check out more of her healthy lunch ideas: http://wendolonia.com

Read More:
See Wendy’s French-Inspired Bento Box
Download our free printable Valentine’s Day cards